The History of Six Flags Magic Mountain (Part 1)

Welcome to our new monthly series “The History of (blank)”! In this new series, we will be going into detail about the history of some of our favorite theme parks throughout the United States! And to start it off, we will be going over the history of Six Flags Magic Mountain – The Thrill Capital of The World! And with that said, let’s just jump right into it!

1971 – Park opens May 29, 1971 to the public with 500 employees & 33 attractions in Valencia, California. Most of which were designed by Arrow Development Co. The admission price in 1971 was $5 for adults and $3.50 for children between the ages of 3 and 12 (if only prices were like that now).

At the time of the park’s opening, the rides and attractions included the following: Gold Rusher, Log Jammer, The Sky Tower, Grand Prix, El Bumpo, a Carousel, and some other smaller rides. At the time of opening, the park had 4 transportation rides: Funicular (now known as The Helpful Honda Express), The Metro (a monorail), Eagles Flight, and El Dorado Station. The Showcase Theater (now known as The Golden Bear Theater), was part of the original park and featured Barbra Streisand as the first of many headline performers who would appear headline performers who would appear at Magic Mountain over the years. Also, In the 1971 season, Magic Mountain obtained permission from Warner Bros. to use Looney Tunes characters. However, they did not continue using them after their first year.

1972 – They began using trolls as the park mascots. The trolls King Blop (also known as King Troll), Bleep, Bloop, became recognizable characters of Magic Mountain. All King Productions, a contractor, provided the entertainers wearing the costumes until December 31, 1972, when Magic Mountain took on that role. The characters continued being used until 1985. Also in 1972, a second log flume (Jet Stream) was added.

1974 – Park installs a new complex of spinning rides in what would later be known as Back Street, The new additions consisted of Himalaya, Electric Rainbow, and Temple Drum.

1975 – The Grand Centennial Railway opens to the public in Back Street. It took riders on a journey to Spillikin corners and back.

1976 – The Great American Revolution opens, making Magic Mountain the first park in the world to have a modern, 360-degree steel looping coaster. However, there were previous coasters built that had a loop, but they were dismantled due to safety issues. When it was built, there was very little in the way of surrounding brush. Now, the tracks are surrounded by trees and bushes, which prevents park guests from knowing the track beforehand. Also, Universal filmed a major movie at Magic Mountain with the Great American Revolution as its centerpiece in the movie Rollercoaster.

Thank you for checking our first installment of The History of (blank)! This one was a little short because we want to make sure you enjoy this new series. So, if you enjoyed this and would like the second part of The History of Six Flags Magic Mountain, let us know in the comments!

What other parks would you like to see in future The History of (blank)’s? Tell us in the comments!

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